Best time to fly out of Bellingham (BLI)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bellingham: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 96.1% of the time, against 75.7% in the 4–6pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 95 | 92 | 88 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 97 |
| 6–8am | 98 | – | – | 95 | 96 | – | 96 |
| 8–10am | 94 | 96 | 94 | 92 | 95 | 94 | 93 |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | 79 | 74 | 80 | 78 | 80 | 81 | 79 |
| 2–4pm | 85 | – | – | 83 | 82 | 83 | 82 |
| 4–6pm | 76 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BLI was 6–8am — 96.1% of departures left on time across 822 flights. The weakest was 4–6pm at 75.7%.
The year at BLI
July was the hard month at BLI: 82.5% of departures left on time, across 743 flights. November was the easy one at 91.6%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85.8% | 556 |
| February | 90.2% | 526 |
| March | 88.3% | 660 |
| April | 88.4% | 647 |
| May | 88.6% | 649 |
| June | 84.7% | 654 |
| July | 82.5% | 743 |
| August | 84.4% | 616 |
| September | 86.5% | 558 |
| October | 85% | 622 |
| November | 91.6% | 565 |
| December | 84.8% | 629 |
Airlines at BLI
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BLI, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 85.1% | 62 min | 1.5% | 3,338 |
| Allegiant Air | 91.5% | 105 min | 0.4% | 2,935 |
| Southwest Airlines | 78.3% | 55 min | 0.6% | 1,152 |
What delays out of BLI were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,118 flights that departed BLI and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 46.1% put down to airline operations and 27.9% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 27.9%
- Airline operations 46.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 14.5%
- Severe weather 11.4%
- Security 0.1%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through BLI
Of 7,424 scheduled arrivals into BLI, 82.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,243 arrivals that ran late, 62.2% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of BLI
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- SEA 80.2% on time · 3,234 flights
- LAS 89% on time · 2,003 flights
- OAK 86.9% on time · 887 flights
- AZA 89.1% on time · 424 flights
- PSP 88.6% on time · 326 flights
- LAX 88.7% on time · 275 flights
- PDX 94.2% on time · 104 flights
- DEN Not enough flights to say · 70 flights
- SAN Not enough flights to say · 62 flights
- BUR Not enough flights to say · 40 flights
BLI in one number
Bellingham (BLI)
Rank 181 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BLI
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bellingham?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 96.1% of the time across 822 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 4–6pm band was the weakest at 75.7%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BLI?
- July: 82.5% of the departures that flew left on time, with 743 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 91.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BLI?
- Allegiant Air — 91.5% of its 2,935 departures from BLI left on time. Southwest Airlines sat at the other end at 78.3% over 1,152 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BLI?
- 0.9% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.